The two sides took up the issues at the sixth meeting of the India-US CEO Forum, which was co-chaired by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo in Washington on Wednesday.
“Our discussions focused on prospects of tech and R&D collaboration in critical sectors such as defence, space, semiconductors, telecom, AI and clean energy,” Goyal said in a post on X.
They discussed the pathway for strengthening bilateral cooperation in critical minerals supply chains as recommended by the US-India CEO forum.
The Forum convened as a platform to allow private sector members to develop and provide recommendations to the two governments that reflect the private sector’s views, concerns and suggestions about the creation of an environment in which the bilateral economic links are strengthened. The Forum works in tandem with, and provides inputs to, government-to-government US-India Commercial Dialogue.
“We also discussed opportunities for US investments in upcoming 20 industrial cities in India to foster mutual growth,” Goyal added.India is developing 20 industrial smart cities across states to boost local manufacturing and Make in India and 12 of them were
approved by the Cabinet last month.
The CEO Forum members represent a total of 22 US companies and 25 Indian companies.
The CEOs, under the seven working groups, presented priority areas to create stronger partnerships and boost growth across various critical areas such as Entrepreneurship and Promoting Small Businesses, Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals, Aerospace and Defence, ICT and Digital Infrastructure.
“Government representatives and CEOs reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening commercial and trade ties, driving economic growth and innovation, and fostering a resilient bilateral partnership,” commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.
The two sides also deliberated on the progress made as of the last meeting of the Forum in March 2023, including the launching of innovation handshake and a knowledge sharing platform called NIHIT (Network for Innovation and Harnessing Investments and Trade).